Thursday, August 4, 2011

The "I dared p²" Challenge

I planned on writing about this later in the month, but now that comments have been made telling me I should take topic suggestions from my blog readers, I guess I’m going to write about it today.

The interesting thing is that when I decided to do the 30 days/30 posts challenge this month, one of the ideas I tossed around was asking for topic suggestions. The only problem with that is that I’m writing every day and depending on the topic, I might have to do some research or learn about something. That just seems a little overwhelming to me right now when I consider the other things I have on my plate right now.

The idea I settled on was very similar, but gives me a little more latitude. A couple of years ago, I read a book by an Esquire columnist I really like, A.J. Jacobs. The book was The Year of Living Biblically. A.J. spent an entire year following the rules of the bible. It was quite entertaining.

And several other writers have done very similar things over the past couple years. There was the Julie/Julia Project – blogger cooked her way through The Joy of Cooking and wrote about it; and Super Size Me – filmmaker lived on fast food for 30 days and makes a documentary about it. There are probably dozens more I don’t remember or never knew about.

The idea of doing something specific for a set period of time and writing about the experience intrigues me, but I’m not really sure what I should do. I know that the set period of time can’t be more than 30 days – it took me almost two months to get through the 30-Day Song Challenge on Facebook. I have a short attention span.

But other than that, I’m willing to consider all suggestions. However, I have rules. Not many, but a couple.

I will only accept suggestions made on the p² to the nth fanpage on Facebook. The reason for that is all ego. I want more fans and more traffic on that page, so if you want to challenge me you have to do it there.

I will only consider suggestions that don’t break the law and don’t compromise my sobriety.

If you’re suggestion costs more than a hundred bucks total, I’ll only consider it if you’re putting up the money.

I will only commit to choosing one of the suggestions if I get suggestions from at least ten people. I’m not going to paint myself into a corner by saying I’ll do something and then being left with only one choice.

Finally, I have final say in how I tailor a challenge. I’ll be upfront about it, so if you think I’m cheating you can call me on it. But ultimately I have to be the one calling the shots.

There you have it. There’s really nothing in it for you except the public glory of having your challenge accepted. But if that’s enough for you, go to my fan page and make a suggestion. Deadline is August 31, 2011. No purchase necessary. Winner must be present (or on the same planet). Depending on the challenge chosen, I’ll probably try to do it in October. I am leaving myself the probably wiggle room in case I need to do some sort of preparation or training to do it.